The Pegasus Galaxy
by Trippett
Summary: In Metropolis, the Kent Household suddenly gets a visit by the Military, and Clark gets taken away to a military base underneath the Cheyenne Mountain. There awaits a number of large surprises; A dream job, a beautiful girl, and more friends than you
1. Chapter 1

Title/Link: The Pegasus Galaxy  
Author: Trippett  
Pairing: (Clark/Lana, the others are a surprise)  
Rating: PG-13  
Warnings: Mild Violence  
Spoilers: None  
Short summary:

In Metropolis, the Kent Household suddenly gets a visit by the Military, and Clark gets taken away to a military base underneath the Cheyenne Mountain.

There awaits a number of large surprises; A dream job, a beautiful girl, and more friends than you can shake a stick at.

(Have fun!! :D)

**Chapter One: Uninvited Dinner Guests**

Clark Kent sighed to himself, making his way slowly down the stairs of their three story house in Metropolis. His family had lived there ever since he could remember, and he had no close friends at Metropolis University.

This could be due to lack of interest on his part, as no matter what happened, he had to keep to himself due to his very large, and very dangerous secret.

The truth is, Clark Kent isn't like any other boy, isn't like any other person in fact, because he's not Human. He's a Kryptonian.

He came to earth after Krypton was destroyed in a meteor shower that hit the farm town of Smallville, where he was found in a corn field by Jonathan and Martha Kent. They then sold their property off to the Potters, and came to Metropolis so no one would suspect Clark of anything weird.

When he first came to earth, he showed signs of super-strength. By the age of five he had was so fast that he could make the journey from Metropolis to Smallville, which should take 3 hours, in less than thirty seconds. After that came the x-ray vision, heat vision and then the flight, which he hardly ever uses.

He trudged into the kitchen, where his Mum was busy cooking.

"I've done my Homework." Clark stated, as he jumped into a chair surrounding the island counter.

Martha looked up from the sink and smiled. "Good, your dinner's nearly ready. Go and fetch your father from the Garage, he's busy trying to fix that stupid motorcycle again!"

Clark grinned, before getting up and super-speeding to the Garage door.

"Dad, Mum says Dinner's ready..."

"Ok, Son. I'll be in, in a minute." Jonathan said, looking up from the large engine.

Clark super-sped back to his seat in the kitchen, where his mother was quick to scold him on using his abilities for such simply tasks.

Clark just shrugged, and pulled his dish closer towards him. When his Father came in, there was a knock at the front door.

Jonathan stopped in the hallway and sighed, looking at his dinner longingly. He then straightened out and walked towards the door.

When he opened it, they saw a tall man in a dark blue military uniform. He had dark brown, greying hair, and had a large collection of medals.

"Good evening, Mr Kent. I'm Colonel O'Neill, United States Air Force. We've been ordered," the Colonel indicated to at least twenty armed Marines behind him "to take your Son."

Jonathan instantly stood up straight. "You'll do no such thing!" He said, raising his voice.

Clark jumped up from his seat and started moving towards the door, when the first four Marines lifted their weapons to their shoulders and aimed at Clark.

"Target Acquired, Sir!"

O'Neill quickly stood in front of the Marines. "Stand down." When they did so, he moved to face the Kent's. "Look, Sir, we could treat your Son as a hostile threat, or as an ally. Either way, he'll be coming with us.

"We're not going to do anything to him...we're not going to run tests on him. All we want, is to talk..." he said, trailing off, before restarting again. "We have an interesting proposition for him, but I think it would be safer if he were to come with us. I wouldn't like to know what you're neighbours are thinking at the moment..."

Jonathan got up in his face, and said "If you guarantee his safe return, then he can go."

"If he declines, then of course, he'll be free to go." O'Neill said, nodding his head. "But I have to say, I don't think he will. Even I'm jealous of the people going on this assignment, and I've been doing this for a long time..."

Clark sighed, and took his red jacket from the coat stand. "It's okay, Dad." He said, as he put it on, and walked outside. "I'll call tomorrow morning."

The Colonel smiled. "See, we didn't need to resort to violence or threats...Your son is a clever boy, Mr Kent. It was nice meeting you." He said, turning his back and marching up the front path, before sitting in the bed of one of two jeeps'. "Come sit up here, Mr Kent."

The twenty Marines all marched and piled into a transport truck, while Clark made himself comfortable sitting next to O'Neill.

After about two hours of complete silence, O'Neill spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Mr Kent, but you're going to have to wear this blind fold. You're a security threat for as long as you're a civilian on the base we're going to, and we can't risk you identifying it." He said, handing Clark a black blindfold.

Clark sighed, but nodded. After carefully putting on the piece of fabric, he'd decided not to use his x-ray vision as it would destroy the sole purpose of putting it on, and he wasn't wearing it for nothing!

Ten Minutes Later and Clark was being guided by Colonel O'Neill through various hallways and rooms.

As he came to a standstill, he didn't have the slightest idea as to whether he was in a room or a corridor. Then, all of a sudden a chair was pushed underneath his legs, so he sat down on it, deciding he was now in a room.

When his blindfold was roughly taken off, by a Marine that went to stand guard by the door, he noticed that he was in a large room that had a window as one of the walls.

Five people occupied the room. Colonel O'Neill, two Marines by the door, a blonde haired women who was in some kind of leather uniform that had a yellow patch with 'Atlantis' on the side, and himself.

Colonel O'Neill did the introductions. "Mr Kent; this is our newly promoted Colonel, Sam Carter." He said, smiling proudly at the young women.

She smiled back, shaking her head slightly. "Hello, Clark. It's nice to meet you."

All Clark did was nod politely, wondering what they brought him here for.

"And now, Sam, I'll take my leave. I'll see you when you next report, no doubt." O'Neill said, hugging the newly introduced Colonel, before walking out past the two guards.

"I'm sorry you got stuck with Jack, Clark. He was the only one we could drag out of hiding to go and get you. It is alright if I call you Clark, isn't it?" She asked uncertainly.

Clark nodded again. "Yeah."

Carter smiled again, nodding. "Okay, well, first things first." She said. "Come have a look where you are."

He stood up warily, and walked to the window. In a large chamber stood a ringed structure with many little symbols around it, and another ring around that to lock them into place. Around the peculiar room, Marines and other personnel were running around.

"'Welcome' to the SGC. Stargate Command." Sam said, watching his reaction.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: SG-1**

Clark frowned slightly. "Stargate, what's that?" He asked, still staring at the large circle.

"The long explanation?" Carter asked, looking away from him and at the Stargate, too.

He nodded, mutely.

"Well, The Stargates were created millions of years ago by an alien race known to us as the Ancients."

As soon as she said the word 'alien', Clark's head snapped towards her. Before she continued, he had to try and act innocent.

"'Alien'? Why have you brought me here?!" He asked, shaking his head and backing away from the window.

Sam sighed and turned to Clark. "We know you're special. How special...we don't know. But you stirred our interest during your short sports career. I mean, no one has ever thrown as far as you have, or managed to withstand all of the hits you have without buckling.

"What we _do _know, is that you could be helpful to us." She finished, watching him.

"That's all you know?" Clark asked.

"Yes. Please, let me explain and then I'll tell you what we'd _like _from you."

Clark sighed before simply nodding. He walked back over to the window again and stared at all of the people wandering around down in the chamber.

"Ok. Well, as I was saying; The Stargates were all created millions of years ago. However, this one, which is the only active one on earth, was found in Giza, Egypt in 1928. It was shipped over here in 1938 to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Nazis.

"It laid dormant, here, until 1994, when Daniel Jackson, an Archaeologist was bought here, and discovered the hieroglyphs were in fact; star constellations. It was at that time when he managed to discover the point of origin, and activate it.

"After we travelled through the gate, we ended up on a different planet. There, we managed to find more valid coordinates. When we came back through, I had to alter the dialling system so we could work with these new codes.

"Now, ever since then, we've been sending armed teams to many, many different planets on missions to gather alien technology, and/or establish contact with the different inhabitants.

"Right. This is where you come in. A few months ago, we dialled a new set of coordinates. Before this, we've been working solely in the Milky Way Galaxy, but these coordinates took us into a new Galaxy all together. And this is the only Stargate that we can reach in that Galaxy, from earth.

"This is the Pegasus Galaxy. And the gate that we got connected to, is in the Lost City of Atlantis."

Clark let out a laugh. "You're kidding me, right? Atlantis from all of those stories? The one that supposedly sunk into the ocean and hasn't been seen since?"

Carter nodded. "That exact one. Although, we now know that Atlantis was never here, on earth. Rumours spread when the Ancients, the inhabitants of Atlantis, came here, and the word got out."

Clark laughed again. "Wow. And what do you need me for again? You lot seem to be doing a fine job without my help..."

"Well, that's the thing. We've already sent an Expedition to Atlantis, head by a Dr. Weir. They've encountered trouble there by an enemy called the Wraith, and at the moment, they don't have enough power in Atlantis to stop them. Atlantis is currently under siege by three hive ships. We've currently found a source of power, and we've already sent armed personnel through the gate to help them until we can transport the ZPM there. So we're recruiting more people now as we have enough power to work the whole city. We want you to go."

"And what would I be doing exactly?" He asked, shaking his head slightly at what they were even talking about.

"Daily duties? Well, umm, we want you to join SG-1. It's a small team, with few members. We have one here at the GSC, but we need one there too. You'll be sent to different gates and report back what you find there. We believe that you could be a physical help to that team...you know, a bit of muscle.

"You'll be paid well for your time away from your family. You'll be given lodging, of course. Catering. Equipment. And it's a once in a life time opportunity. We won't be offering this chance out again."

Clark sighed. A lot was running through his brain, but the most prominent thought was **alien technology...alien...Krypton...Kryptonian's...This could be my only chance to find out if there are any others like me.**

"I need to think about it." He stated simply.

Sam nodded and smiled. "I know it's a scary prospect, but if you say yes, you won't be disappointed. Trust me." She said, reaching out and running her hand up and down his arm soothingly. "I'll get a guard to show you to a spare room for tonight, and you can ring family up tomorrow morning. You should know, however, that you won't be able to tell them.

Everything I told you today, I told you in complete confidence. Your parents don't have security clearance."

Clark sighed again and nodded. "Ok. Thank you."

She smiled. "No problem. Anytime." She laughed.

Clark nodded, and was shown out of the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Reinforcements**

The next morning, Clark used one of the facilities phones; calling his parents to reassure them that the military didn't know anything about his origins, and that he didn't know when the next time he'd be able to talk to them would be.

He'd decided, later the night before, that he was going accept the position, whatever that was, and help wherever he could. The only thing that worried him was that he wasn't sure if his powers would work in the Pegasus Galaxy, as he wasn't sure if they had a yellow sun.

Once he'd finished his call, promising to come and see them the next time he could, he looked beside him. There was a Marine standing behind him, to the right, as his guide.

**"Mr. Kent to the briefing room please, Mr. Kent to the briefing room."** Came a voice over the speaker system.

The Marine behind him stood to attention, glancing at Clark. Clark just nodded, before following the man through the maze that was the base towards the briefing room.

Before he entered, the Marine opened the door and walked a few metres down the hall to where he stood guard against the wall. Clark watched him go before walking into the room.

In the room was a round table with two chairs. Carter was the only other person who was in there.

"Are we expecting anyone else?" Clark asked, from the door.

She turned to look at him for a second, before shaking her head, no. "Just us." She said, before walking towards the chair closest to her and taking a seat. She waved her hand to the other. "Please..."

He nodded, before closing the door and taking the offered seat.

Carter stayed silent for a few minutes, staring at Clark. Finally breaking the silence, she asked; "So, have you decided yet? Because if you haven't, we've run out of time...The reinforcements will be going through later today, we can't waste anymore time sitting here when they have no hope without us!"

Clark nodded again. "I'll go. But am I going Military or Civilian?" He asked, confused.

Sam thought about it for a moment, before coming to a decision. "Military. Your now officially Lieutenant Kent, Atlantis Armed Forces." She said with a smile. "And also, a member of the SG-1. There are a list of people that we have already in the team.

I am going to be the in General Command of the Expedition. Dr. Weir, who I've already mentioned was heading this expeditions, will be standing down when I arrive; I'm not sure how she'll take it.

We have Major John Sheppard, who, If I have to become a Civilian to take charge from Weir, which is a possibility I'm fine with, would be heading Atlantis' Military Contingent. John is a very capable Major, and I can tell already you two will get on like a house on fire." She said with a smile.

"Rodney Mckay is the head of the Science and Research Departments and has agreed to join SG-1.

We also have Teyla Emmagon, she's the leader of Athosians, human natives to the Pegasus Galaxy. Her people are now residents on the mainland near Atlantis.

We also have Lieutenant Aiden Ford, I'm sure you'll be working closely with him.

Last but not least Dr. Beckett, he's Head of Medicine. He doesn't like going off word, but he has agreed to do so if need arises.

All of these people are members of SG-1, who are the only team who go out and explore different planets unless we need back-up."

Clark nodded slightly, trying to take in all of the things she's just told him. He was now a Lieutenant in a Military that didn't really exist...He was going to a world/galaxy no one knew about to fight an enemy that we have only just got the power the fight...sounded to him like this was some story written by an author who had plot wholes the size of Kansas.

"Right...But before we go off-world we need to fight off three hive ships?" He asked, disbelievingly, before sarcastically adding, "Piece of cake, we'll be off-world before midnight."

Sam laughed lightly. "Hmm, so it would seem. The armed personnel we're sending through should be ready to fight as soon as we get to the other side; so your equipment and rifle are waiting for you in the room you stayed in last night."

"Hang on! Don't I need training before handling a gun like that?" He asked, worriedly.

Sam nodded slightly again, thinking. "Right, I'll let Sergeant Brennan, you're guide, give you a crash course on how to use it, before he shows you to the Stargate..."

Clark sighed, before shrugging. "Fine. Is that all?"

Carter stared at him for a few seconds, before nodding. "For now. I'll meet you at the Stargate with everyone else in half an hour." She said, before standing up and walking to the door. "And by the way, Congratulations, Lieutenant." She said smiling, before walking out.

He followed her out the door, before going over to the Sergeant, who nodded as he was given to commands to instruct Clark in 'the way of the rifle'. Smiling, he led Clark back to his room where he gave him brief instructions before gearing the newly promoted Lieutenant up in body armour, his bag pack, rifle clicked into the carrying position, and a microphone placed into his ear.

Sergeant Brennan stepped back to survey his work, before nodding. "That's it. Your already, now, Sir." He stepped back, before saluting Clark.

He blinked for a few seconds, before giving off a brief salute back. Readjusting his pack, Clark gave his first command.

"Ok, to the Stargate, Sergeant."

Brennan smiled, before replying "Yes, Sir. This way, Sir."

When they arrived at the Stargate the chamber was crammed full with armed, medical, and storage personnel. He walked up to Carter and saluted her.

She smiled at him before saluting back. "Lieutenant..."

"Ma'am." He replied with a grin.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Don't do it, Clark." She then pressed her vest, where her communicator button was. "Dial it in, we're all set."

A brief "Yes, Colonel." Came back over the communicator, before a the speaker system emitted.

"**Chevron One, Encoding.**"

As this was said, the ring on the outside went around and was clamped down on one of the symbols by a glowing fastener.

"**Chevron Two, Encoding."**

The process repeated itself, landing on another symbol. After another six repeats, the gate opened.

Clark watched it in slow motion as the worm hole exploded to fill the gates frame. He blinked, thinking it was one hell of a site.

Carter moved forward and started heading towards the Gate.

"Armed Personnel on me!" She shouted.

Instantly around half the room went moving forward at once. Carter was the first there, and raising her rifle to eye level, she walked straight through the Stargate. Clark imitated her, and walked through with the rest.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Arrival**

As Clark appeared on the other side, the first thing he noticed was gun fire. Lots, and lots of gun fire. The second thing he noticed was that the reinforcements were already out of the game.

The Stargate was surrounded by tall, slim, pale green creatures. Three of them had long white hair, while all the others had, what looked to him like bone, helmets on.

In front of him, Sam already had her hands in the air. Imitating her again, he sighed and placed his rifle on the ground and kicking it away from him. He then walked cautiously towards her.

"Their the Wraith?" He asked, under his breath.

Sam nodded, looking at him helplessly with a slight shrug. "I guess so..."

"What are we going to do now?"

"The Stargate is the thing we're protecting, so our men _should _be close by..." She said, glancing around the large hall and up to the balcony's above.

At that moment, a voice yelled out from a door down a set of stairs leading off from the hall; "Fire in the hole!"

"Speaking of the devil..." Carter trailed off. "Get down!" She yelled at everyone, hearing the clatter of a grenade landing near them.

Every member of the reinforcements hit the deck at the same time; at the exact same time as a flash bang went off.

The next thing Clark noticed was a lot more gun fire, but this time in the hall itself. Ten seconds later, the place was a Wraith graveyard. As the after affects of the light bombs faded, three figures walked into view.

Carter sighed, getting up and grabbing her rifle from the floor. "Clark, on me. Everyone else; spread out and guard the entrances."

Clark scrambled to get his gun off the floor, before following Sam to the three saviours.

"Clark, this is Major John Sheppard, Lieutenant Aiden Ford, and I believe, from the reports we've received; Teyla Emmagon?" She asked

Clark looked at the three fighters; all were still armed and at the ready.

"Sam, glad you could make it." The Major said with a grin. "Prometheus arrived half an hour ago. McKay's setting up the ZPM now, but we'll still need to fight off the Darts that stay within the shield."

Sam nodded, "Ok, how many of Ancient Ships do we have?" She asked, glancing around the room to make sure everything was still good.

Sheppard thought for a moment. "Two. A scouting party destroyed one of them before the hives arrived, and we weren't going to send them out against these waves."

Carter sighed, and looked around. "Sergeant Brennan; How many Rail Guns did we bring through?" She shouted into the crowd.

"Seven." Came the curt reply, but they still couldn't pin point his location.

"Ok, well, the Colonel brought five with him when we first sent reinforcements through, didn't he?" She asked, turning back to Sheppard.

"Yeah, they've been up ever since. The Colonels dead, when the Wraith first got inside Atlantis, we took measures to keep them away; and he got killed when he went to secure one of the labs."

Sam sighed, nodding. "Ok." She tapped her communicator. "Rodney, how long will it take for you to get the shields online and working?"

"Sam!" A delighted voice came from Clark's headset. "Umm...I'm not sure; fifteen, twenty minutes max. I need to convert the..."

Clark drowned the scientific talk out until McKay stopped.

"Oh, and John; we have more Drones! Get back to the chair, we've already loaded them in..." McKay trailed off, as the lights flickered on and off.

"What was that, Rodney?" Sam asked, looking around. "Everything's fine in the control room."

Silence came over the communicator for a minute or so, until they all heard a heavy sigh.

"Shit. John, check the outer-sensors to make sure I'm not seeing things..."

The Major's eyes grew wide, as he looked at Clark and Sam. "Quickly!" He said, and they all ran up the large flight of stairs until they reached the main part of the control room.

As soon as he entered, Sheppard punched a counter. "RODNEY, WE NEED THE SHEILD UP, NOW!" He yelled, turning around. "Ford, Teyla, go and get on a separate rail gun each."

Sam's brow was furrowed in confusion. "What's happened, John?" She asked, looking around the room.

All he did was point to a large, flat screen that was on the wall. The planet was on it; and many, many little dots were making their way down to the surface; but what was more disturbing was that, what use to be two larger dots orbiting the planet, had now turned into five.

"Three more hive ships." John said, shaking his head. "I need to get on that chair..." He said, beginning to walk away.

"Excuse me; Major?"

Sheppard turned around and stared at Clark. "And you are?"

"Lieutenant Clark Kent. I was wandering if this Galaxy had a Yellow, or Red Sun?"

The Major blinked for a few seconds, staring at Clark oddly. "Yellow. Why do you ask?"

Clark smiled to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: The Perfect Weapon**

Clark nodded slightly, "Okay, where's the closest balcony?" He asked Sheppard.

Sheppard continued to stare at him suspiciously, before walking past him. "The Conference Room...Follow me." He said, beginning a light jog out of the room.

When they reached the large conference room; five parts of the wall opened up towards them for doors. Clark smiled, amazed, and followed the others through, continuing until they reached the balcony.

"Right, now, why did you want to know about the Sun, and the balcony, Lieutenant?" Teyla asked with a raised eyebrow, as she surveyed the Dart ships flying around the city, and being shot down by the new rails guns being set up at strategic locations.

"I'm sorry, but questions will have to come later..." Clark said, also staring at the scene in front of him. He looked up at the sky and frowned. "There the Hive Ships?"

John raised frowned, before nodding. "Yes, and you'll answer the question lieutenant!" He ordered.

Clark shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't at the moment...It'll take too long, just trust me." He continued staring up at the five ships for a moment, thinking. "What defences do they have on the Hives?" He asked, looking back to Sheppard.

"The only thing I know of is the shields; you wouldn't be able to dock on it in a puddle jumper, and there's no other way to get to them."

"That was before I came along, Major." He said, looking back up, into the night sky. He then looked down at his rifle. "I'm going to need a more...permanent...weapon. This wouldn't last long, if I have five hives to clear out."

"Do you know how to handle a sword?" Teyla asked, unsheathing two that were strapped to her back and giving them a swirl.

Clark smiled, his eyes gleaming as he took in the Katana-like swords. "No, but it's not like I'll hurt myself. As long as I'm slashing in the right direction, it'll do the purpose." He said, stretching out his hands to accept them.

Carter stared at Teyla, before looking to Clark. "You can't be serious, Clark! They can suck the life out of you if you get too close!"

Clark gripped the two swords, and gave each a swirl, before looking up at Sam. "Well, then; I won't give them that opportunity now, will I? I'm faster than them, anyway; so no worries."

"Clark, you may be fast in sport; but this isn't earth! These aren't Human! You have no way to get up there, anyway!"

Clark sighed slightly, looking back up at the Hives. "I know that they aren't Human; I figured that out by their green complexion, and the fast that they can suck the life out of you." He said, going over to the balcony's railing. Lifting a foot and placing it on a middle railing, he pushed himself up so he was standing on the top of it.

The others came forward to grab him, but he waved them off. "I have one question; Who said _I_ was Human?" He asked, before pushing off of the railings and soaring straight toward the awaiting ships; leaving a confused group of humans behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: To The Rescue**

Clark flew fast, but not at his maximum speed; as this would mean he wouldn't be able to damage Wraith Darts unless one miraculously flew into him. Using a combination of heat-vision and his strength; he managed to destroy a total of thirty wraith darts. Twenty three were destroyed by immense fires, five by being man-handled and chucked into the ocean and two were too busy on the offensive to actually drive their ships and had ploughed into him.

As he flew from the atmosphere he increased his speed, managing to go faster than usual due to no gravity. Before reaching the first hive, he used his x-ray vision to scan it. He saw many, many, many Wraith on there; so decided he'd play with them first.

Crashing into the space craft, he shot through the structure and damaged the control station in the centre of the ship. While this did a lot of damage; the fact that he crashed through the ship immobilised all the wraith that were in secure rooms; and killed the ones that weren't.

Having practically defeated one already, he decided to take the next three slower, but not slow. Smashing his way into a small room, in both of them, to make sure they didn't all die straight away, he hacked and slashed his way through them and then destroyed their control systems again before they even registered they had a breach.

For the last one, he decided to go really slow to see if he could gather any information for the Atlantis Team; to see if the Wraith had any more ships on the way to the city, and/or where the other hive ships were.

He rammed into a portion of the Hives frame and went crumbling through it; barrelling into a large room. As the air got sucked out of the room; four Wraiths that were standing in there flew out with it.

Clark smiled slightly, and walked over to the door. It slid open of its own accord. The five seconds it was open for caused the two guards by the door to go off somewhere into space; but didn't do much more than that. As the door closed, Clark glanced around using his x-ray vision to see where he was.

Continuing into the Realm of the Wraith; Clark only came across the odd seven or eight that were patrolling the corridors, which, from Clark's experience, wasn't normal, as they usually patrolled in packs of five.

He carried on walking until he reached the room where the control systems were, and found out why he'd only seen as many as he did.

The room was full of bone-headed Wraith and one White haired one. Aiming. At him.

Clark blinked a few times before giving them all a small wave. "Hi..." He trailed off; the sword in that hand moving awkwardly.

In no time at all, he'd gotten rid of the minions. Stopping, he placed both swords in his left hand and had a look around. Turning to the only remaining Wraith on the ship, he gave him a grin.

"So...Is there anything we need to know?" He asked it. "Like how, when and where we're going to die, perhaps?"

The Wraith's eyes were wide, surprised by how easily this _boy_ had managed to destroy their invasion. It's mind came to one conclusion as to who...what...could possibly do this.

"Ancient."

Clark raised an eyebrow, glancing around the chamber again. "That didn't answer any of my questions...but Ok; I'll take it." He walked over to a terminal and glanced at it. "This doesn't tell me _anything!_" He said in frustration, before x-raying it. He punched the terminal, his handing going straight through it. Taking his hand out from the whole he'd created, he brought with it some kind of Wraith Hard-drive. "So...I'll just be taking this back with me; you don't mind, do you?" He asked the Wraith.

The Wraith's eyes went wider at this. "Fool!" He shouted, before raising the Wraith Rifle and sending a stunner at him.

Clark had been overly confident, but when the beam hit him in the arm he winced as it left a large, bloody graze where his skin had temporarily melted away. He sighed, shaking his head. "That won't do, not at all..." He said, as he appeared in front of the Wraith and took the Rifle away from him, snapping it into two.

The Wraith lifted his right hand to try and touch Clark's chest, but Clark noticed and grabbed his wrist with his right hand, raised his left elbow and slammed it down on the joint, breaking it.

"Yeah, don't touch me. It will hurt you a lot more than it will hurt me." He said, before grabbing the Wraith by its robe and chucking it through the walls; out into space. "Good luck." He shouted after it, before turning around, watching everything that wasn't bolted down fly out of the whole after him.

Clark sighed and looked down at the Hard-drive. "Well, this should be some help." He said quietly to himself. "Ciao." He said to the large ship, before making what Gravity there was bend to his command; making him go through the bottom of the ship; back to Atlantis.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Lost In Translation**

As Clark returned to the Balcony he left off from, he noticed the lack of Wraith Darts whizzing around. He smiled slightly as he landed softly, before looking over to the door.

Clark was contemplating what to tell everybody, when suddenly the door opened. Armed Marines came in and pointed their Rifles at him, as Major Sheppard made through the middle of them, training his own weapon on him.

"Drop your weapons. You'll be coming with us, Lieutenant!" He ordered, watching Clark's movements.

Clark sighed, nodding. He placed the swords on the floor, before walking up to the Major.

"I'd order your men to stand down, Major. It'd only be a waste of ammunition." Clark told him solemnly, before waving his hand ahead of him; indicating that he was ready.

Sheppard frowned, but nodded to the Marines, who lowered their weapons. "Follow me." He stated simply, walking into the Structure.

Just as they reached the control room, Sheppard broke the silence that had descended upon them ever since he'd order Clark to follow him.

"What are you?" He asked loudly, his face still looking ahead of him.

"From what I managed to summarise from my findings on earth; I'm something called a Kryptonian. The only other things I know are my abilities." Clark replied, looking down at his feet. "I came to earth in the Meteor shower that hit Smallville."

The Major nodded, before frowning again, stopping at the entrance to the control room.

"How do you _know_ you're a Kryptonian?"

"Dr. Vergil Swann. He picked up a transmission from space that read 'Kryptonian' a few days after the Meteor's hit, so more likely than not; that's not what I am. But it's the only thing he's managed to uncover from his years trying to find something."

"Swann. Heard about him. Not a lot, but enough to know that he's given The Whitehouse a lot to do to keep everything hushed up." Was Sheppard's reply.

Clark nodded and followed Sheppard into the large room. Carter, Teyla, Ford and an unknown man were standing around talking loudly, until they noticed that Sheppard and Clark were there.

"You have some explaining to do..." Was Carter's immediate welcome.

Clark nodded again, and sat himself down in a swivel chair.

"He says he's something called a Kryptonian..." Sheppard trailed off, as he leaned back against a terminal. "Does it ring a bell, Rodney?"

Clark realised that the unknown man must be Rodney Mckay, one of the other members of SG-1.

Rodney thought for a moment, not looking at anything in particular, drumming his fingers on a console. His fingers stopped, and his eyes went wide, before rushing to a touch screen device that was laying on one of the desks.

"It does, actually..." He mumbled. He looked up at the larger screen, which turned into what was on his device.

"In 1989; Earth received two messages from the Ancients, but not from Atlantis. We weren't able to track the location. One came through the Stargate, which we received in 1994, due to it being dormant. The other was picked up by many of our satellites.

The Stargate received this message." Mckay said, pressing a button on his pad.

On the large screen, 'ANKIONTS R........... ....... THE PEGASUS; YOUR...'.

"I found a log on one of the consoles here; that read."

Above the first message, this appeared; 'ANCIENTS RELYAING FROM THE PEGASUS, YOUR...'

"Now, because of the signal strength of the message sent to our satellites; that transmission was jumbled and only letters got through. Not very good."

Underneath the two messages, 'KRYPTONIANS'

"The K, T, O, N, I, A, N, S forms the words ANKIONTS. The Spare R, Y, P, T must be **R**elaying, **Y**our, **P**egasus and **T**he.

Needless to say; we never received the whole transmission." Rodney finished off.

Everyone turned their attention to Clark. Feeling rather uncomfortable, he scratched the back of his head.

"This means?" He asked uncertainly, not having been able to follow the majority of what had just been said.

Sam stepped forward and stared at Clark. "That means that your...an Ancient."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: 'Apprentice' of sorts.**

Clark cocked his head slightly, before scratching it. "That means nothing to me...but Ok." He replied, folding his arms against his chest. He tensed his arms, and then winced. Looking down at his arm, he realised the graze he'd gotten from the Wraith was healing up, but was still there. "How come that Wraith weapon hurt me?" He asked the room at large.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, "Trust me; you're lucky to get away with a graze like that..." She said in disbelief

"I'm not worried about the fact that I got hit; I'm worried about the fact that it hurt."

"Why, it's not like you've never been hurt before..." Sheppard said from where he was resting against the console.

Clark had obviously made some kind of face at that, because Mckay came through the small group; eyes wide.

"You _haven't_ been hurt before, have you?" He asked in astonishment, giving Clark a once over.

"No." Clark responded, scratching his neck awkwardly. "Look; I just want to put my feet up...I've gotten rid of the Wraith..."

"Got put your feet up in the Infirmary." The Major said, standing up and walking over to them.

"I don't need to go the infirmary; give it another five minutes and it'll be as good as new!"

"That's an order, Lieutenant." Sheppard replied curtly, before walking past him and down the stairs.

Clark looked from where Sheppard vanished back to Sam.

She shrugged lightly. "He's staying in-command of the Military Contingent. You'd do best to stay on his good side. He's a good guy, Clark. Listen to him." She then turned around and picked up a small, white game-boy looking console and handed it to him. "Say your destination and then go find the red dot. Easy." She finished with a grin.

Clark nodded, and then frowned "Oh, here's a present for you. Thought it'd be useful.." He said, putting his hand into the inside of his jacket and passing her the hard-drive. "I took it from the last Wraith ship."

Sam took it and stared at it, grinning again. "Wow...you're right, this will come in handy. Thank you. I'll get some people on it right away!" She said, turning around and walking farther into the control room.

Clark sighed and looked at the device. Lifting it up to his mouth; he spoke clearly. "Infirmary."

When Clark arrived at the Infirmary; it was jam packed full of Marines and, what he guessed were Teyla's people; the Athosians.

Walking to one of the only empty beds, he took a seat and waited patiently. Every time someone came over to help him, he waved them off, telling them to go and help someone who actually needed it.

An hour later, he was the only one, (awake), who was still there. He was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling when a petite, raven hair girl, around the same age as himself, came up to him.

"Hi. I take it no one's having a look at you, at the moment?" She asked, looking up from a clipboard.

Clark focused on her and smiled, before shaking his head. "No. It's nothing serious, I just have a small graze." He said, sitting up and moving his arm so she could see.

She nodded slightly, before moving Clark's sleeve higher up his arm. She then looked up to him with a perplexed frown on her face. "I'm sorry, Sir, but no you don't..." She responded, her nose crinkling up as she smiled confusedly.

Clark looked down at where the graze was suppose to me. "I did tell the Major it'd be healed in no time..." He said with a sigh, swinging his legs over the side to sit up properly. Tugging his sleeve down, he began getting up. "I'm sorry for wasting your time, Miss...?"

"Lang. And sit yourself back down. While your hear, I may as well do a check up on you." She replied, pushing him back down gently.

He got himself comfortable again, before asking, "So, Miss Lang. Do you have a first name, or do we have to stay professional?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

She smiled back, shaking her head lightly. "Lana." She said, taking out a syringe. "Hold still, you'll only feel a slight prick." She added, going to inject it in his arm.

Clark cringed, as before he could stop her, she'd jabbed at his arm and the needle bent. "Yeah...that won't work." He said the obvious, scratching the back of his head yet again that day.

Lana blinked and brought the syringe to eye level and cocked her head slightly. "That's alright...Let me just got and get another one..." She sighed, about to walk off.

Clark grabbed her arm gently and pulled her to face him. "No, I mean, you won't be able to stick a needle in me. Nothing can get through my skin...the graze I got dealt by a Wraith today was the first time I've experience pain. I've never been ill. I've never even gone and seen a Doctor, before today."

Lana was having trouble speaking, as she kept opening and closing her mouth with no sound coming out, until she uttered a soft, "How?"

"Well, you see, I'm an Ancient..."

Lana laughed, before cocking her head again. "Really..."

"Hmm, believe me, it came as a shock to me too." He sighed.

She shook her head again, staring at him. "Ok, what planet did you come through the Stargate from?"

"Earth..." Clark said simply, before raising an eyebrow at her. "And it's not like you'd know if I made one up off the top of my head anyway; because I'm pretty certain you don't know any planets in the Pegasus Galaxy accept this one."

Lana's eyes narrowed slightly, as she also raised her eyebrow challengingly. "Oh, yeah, and why would you think that?"

"Because; you have the newer Atlantis Expedition Uniform; meaning you came with the rest of the reinforcements; which also means you know about as much as I do about the Pegasus." He said with a smile.

Lana stared at him for a few seconds, "Hmm...ok, smart arse." She said, grinning, her nose crinkling again. "Well, there's nothing I can do for you, then. I've never treated an Ancient before."

Clark nodded gently, standing up. "Ok, well, I best go and try to suck up to Major Sheppard." He replied with a grimace.

Lana smiled and nodded. "You go, suck up, and I don't want to see you in this infirmary again..." She said, before grinning again, "...at least, not in here injured."

Clark smiled. "I can't promise anything..." He said, walking to the doorway. "Bye." He waved behind him as he walked out, before coming to a standstill, thinking.

Summoning up all his courage, he breathed in, before turning around and walking back to the doorway.

"Lana."

She looked back up from her clipboard which she had in front of her. "Hmm...?"

"Would you accompany me for lunch, tomorrow?" He asked, leaning against the door frame.

Lana cocked her head, staring at him, before gently biting on her bottom lip. After a few seconds of thought, she nodded slightly, smiling. "I'd love to...but I don't even know your name...?"

Clark smiled. "Clark, Clark Kent."

She nodded again, grinning. "Then I'll see you, tomorrow at lunch, Clark." She replied, turning back to her clipboard.

Clark nodded to himself, before turning around and walking out; heading to the control room. Grinning like an idiot, all the while.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: First Day**

Clark muffled a yawn with the back of his hand, as he was called over the inter communication system set up around the city. Sitting up on what passed as a bed, he moved over to the system's console.

"Kent." He replied, pressing the button.

"Good. You're finally up." Came the rough voice of Major Sheppard, "Come down to the gate room when you're ready, Rodney's found something."

Clark nodded to himself, muffling yet another yawn. "Sure, sure. Kent Out."

Using super-speed, Clark was ready and heading up to the gate room in five minutes; his assault rifle clipped to the buckle on his vest, and his ear piece switched on, ready for his first official day working in the Atlantis Armed Forces. Technically speaking, he was the only person worthy of being in the Atlantis Military, if Mckay was right in his assessment that he was in fact, not a Kryptonian, but an Ancient.

Clark passed many people in the halls, all of them running around doing god knows what. Come to think of it, he didn't have much of a clue to what his general duties were, because he was sure they wouldn't be going off-world every day.

Frowning slightly, he quickly ascended the steps and entered the gate room where Carter, Sheppard and Mckay were hovering over a flat screen console watching information scroll rapidly up the screen.

They appeared to be in the middle of a conversation that Mckay was heading.

"Well, see, before, we didn't know about the Ancients hierarchy, we thought that this was a _city_, not a huge laboratory...And if it is, then it would stand to reason that there would be one chief scientist."

Sheppard fidgeted slightly, moving his weight onto the other foot as he stared at Mckay. "So, your saying that one person had control of the whole city?...Sorry, Laboratory?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well, essentially, yes. I mean, for all we know, the Ancient's didn't know that Atlantis even existed. For all we know, a village worth of ancients could have built this place and repopulated it."

Sheppard's head moved in a weird circle, before he shrugged. "So...?"

"Well, this...this Jor-El fellow, he pops up in almost every project. It's possible, no, quite probable, that he's the person that created Atlantis. And if this is true, well, let's just say he's a pure scientific genius, but maybe, just maybe, he was smart enough to escape before it went under. Maybe, and it's a big maybe, he's still out there?"

"He's not."

All the faces in the room turned to stare at Clark, who had been standing in the door way.

Mckay shook his head, dismissing him instantly. "What? You wouldn't know...you only found out you were an ancient yesterday..." He muttered to himself as he turned back around and began keying in some buttons on the console.

Carter wasn't so quick to dismiss him, however. "What do you mean, Clark?"

Clark walked into the room and stared at the screen, watching the information fly by.

"Jor-El..." He repeated to himself. "He left Atlantis. Went back to their home planet, which was destroyed by a nuclear device made by the Wraith. I'm guessing it was the Wraith..."

"How do you know?" Sam reiterated quickly.

"Because...if Jor-El was still out there, I wouldn't have been sent to Earth."

"You've heard of the name before...Jor-El?" She asked uncertainly.

Clark nodded. "Yes. He was my Father."

Carter's eyes went wide, as she turned to Mckay, who again, dismissed the notion.

"Again, you can't possibly know that...there's no proof."

Clark shook his head and walked over to the console, pushing McKay's chair away, before typing something in. He then moved back, as the information changed, and a man's head appeared on all the screen's in the room.

He began talking through the speakers, and Clark instantly began saying every word that was being said along with him.

""You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you... even in the face of our deaths... the richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel... all this, and more... I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your own eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father the son. This is all I can send you, Kal-El.

My son, you will not remember me. I am Jor-El. I am your father. By the time you reach Earth, by their reckoning, I will have been dead for many thousands of years. The knowledge that I have, matters physical and historic, I will give to you fully on your voyage to your new home. These are important matters to be sure, but still matters of mere fact. How does a Good man live? What is virtue'? When does a man's obligation to those around him exceed his obligation to himself'? These are not simple questions - even on Krypton there is no precise science which provides us with the answers. I can only tell you what I myself believe. To this end, I have tried to anticipate your questions, and in -the order of their importance to you.

Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Even though you will be raised as a human being, you are not one of them. You will have great powers, which you will grow into with age.

You are superior to others. You can only become inferior by setting yourself above them. Lead by inspiration. Let your actions and ideals become a touchstone against which mankind may learn how to serve the common good. While it is forbidden for you to interfere with human history itself, your leadership can stir others to their own capacity for moral betterment

The virtuous spirit has no need for thanks or approval. Only the certain conviction that what has been done is right. Develop such conviction in yourself, Kal-El. The human heart on your planet is still subject to small jealousies, lies, and monstrous deceptions. Resist these temptations as you inevitably find them - and your ethical power will then properly outweigh your physical advantage over others...

Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and power are needed - but always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. Your being is both separate and your own , but I have caused your earthly presence and must share responsibility for your actions. They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all - their capacity for good - I have sent them you…my only son. The Last Son of Krypton."

"So Dr. Swann was right...about Krypton." Clark added slightly, as an afterthought.

The group stared at Clark, gobsmacked.

"So...so, your Kal-El?" Sam asked.

"Yes." Was his one worded reply.

"How did you know how to do that?" McKay asked, as he stared down at the keyboard like console. "You've heard that message before?" he added.

Clark nodded. "It was repeated over and over again in my spaceship on the way to earth. The name...Jor-El. It triggered my memory, and I instantly thought it of...What more proof do you need, Dr.?"

McKay remained silent, still staring at the console, so Sam intervened.

"Ok. So, Jor-El was the Chief Scientist of Atlantis? If that's true; because most things are activated due to blood, and how much of the Ancient gene you have in you; you should be able to control every aspect of Atlantis. Not even other Ancient's would have as much power as you, Clark...because as Chief, he'd want to be able to secure things himself, and as your his Son...you're the only person who has near, to exact matching genes as him."

Clark shrugged. "I guess..."

McKay stared at him for a second, before standing up and ushering him to a console further into the room, in the corner. "Now try and unlock everything...just touch the panel, and think about unlocking everything..." He said hurriedly, before rushing back to his own console.

Clark raised an eyebrow at Sam, who just shrugged. He placed his hand on what looked like a big version of a piano key, which glowed red for a brief second, before changing colour to green, and remaining lit up. He glanced at McKay, who was busy typing away.

A few seconds later McKay jumped up and punched the air.

"Unbelievable..." McKay said, as he went back to typing.

"What is it, Rodney?" Sam asked, going to stand next to him.

"Ken...I mean, Kal-El...you know the 3rd and 5th Pier?" He asked Sheppard, stopping and turning conversations as he tried to get out what he was trying to say.

Sheppard gave a slight nod. "Yeah, they've been on lockdown ever since we've arrived."

"Exactly." McKay said. "Now they're not." He quickly typed in something else, before sitting back and staring at the screen. "All Primary and Secondary Systems online...All Outer and Inner City Scanners are fully Functional...every where's come off lockdown." He said smugly.

The information on the screen changed as a scanner came up, and then McKay's eyes bugged out.

"Oh Lord in Heaven..." He muttered, he gaped at the screen for another few seconds before saying, "We've been so stupid...We've been so preoccupied looking for them off-world that we never thought about if the Ancient's would have kept a spare, which would have been an obvious thing for them to do! But then again, it's been in a locked down area...and we would still need to have someone powerful enough with the gene to active it..." He muttered.

He then turned to the team.

"Kal-El's just activated a fully functional ZPM..." he said in disbelief, pointing to a glowing orange dot that beeped and sent ripples going over the whole layout of Atlantis.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Inheritance**

Clark stared at the screen, as another orange ripple was sent over the map of Atlantis.

"ZPM? What's that again?" He asked with a frown, turning to look at McKay.

McKay looked at Carter, who grinned slightly, and gave a small nod, before settling herself down into a chair. He quickly returned his attention back to Clark, going into lecture mode;

"A ZPM is a Zero Point Module. It's an immensely strong and very long-lived energy source capable of powering entire cities and intergalactic spacecrafts. The ZPM was invented by the Ancients, and units have been found both on Earth and in the Pegasus galaxy. In the Pegasus, finding non-depleted ZPM's is so important that there's a standing order for the members of the Atlantis expedition to retrieve them whenever possible. Having a ZPM in Atlantis means the difference between survival and defeat, and between isolation and the ability to travel home to Earth...

Now...I know you're not a Quantum Physicist, but you'll have to try and keep up.

Zero Point Modules are named that because they use zero point energy. Zero point energy is present in all quantum mechanical systems ,i.e. everything that uses energy and converts it to entropy. Zero point energy is the lowest amount of energy that such a quantum mechanical system can have. It is also commonly referred to as vacuum energy and remains when all matter is removed from a region of space. Since by definition zero point energy can never be depleted, it is theoretically an unlimited and free energy source.

The energy arises from various particles that spontaneously emerge, exist for fractions of a second, and are then annihilated by anti-particles. At very small distances, this particle/anti-particle turbulence is known as quantum foam, and it's theorized to be a remnant of the birth of the universe carried over to this day. This variation in energy is somewhat analogous to observing common objects under very small scales. For example, ordinary glass under extreme magnification is porous. Marbles, if expanded to the size of the earth, would have more variation in radius than the Earth does...

Despite the two particles annihilating each other, a small amount of energy is detectable..."

"Demonstrated by the Casimir effect..." Clark stated out of the blue.

McKay's mouth hung open, staring at Clark in wonder, so Clark carried on with his line of thinking.

"Because of the immensely small scales of time and size...as well as the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the existence and subsequent annihilation of these particles doesn't violate the conservation of energy. The individual particles are thought to be generated perhaps by photons interacting with the space?" He asked.

McKay was silent for a few seconds, still speechless, before throwing himself enthusiastically back into the explanation.

"Yes, yes...quite. As built by the Ancients, a ZPM is a container of a large region of vacuum subspace instead of normal space, so that its size is manageable. The ZPM draws power from the zero point energy, a tiny amount from each small bit of the enclosed subspace that adds up to unimaginable power in total...Theoretically the ZPM should never become depleted, but since all mechanical devices have imperfections, it's likely there is a miniscule amount of loss in the system that eventually leads to the last of the energy leaving the ZPM..." He said, the last sentence quieter, and more subdued than the rest.

Clark nodded slightly, his thoughts moving only a fraction faster than it would back on earth in his Physics class. "There's also the issue of entropy eventually winding the system down, but our understanding of physics doesn't extend to such large-scale thermodynamics, does it?" He asked uncertainly, not sure how much the SGC could have found out about the subject from other races.

McKay shook his head. "No, it doesn't. Our information seems to be limited on subspace thermo dynamical physics, compared to other races...that would explain how we've only just started exploring space in the last few years..." he said, voice demoralised slightly as he realised how far behind the Human Race was compared to, say, the Asgard.

"Well..." Clark said, "I guess me finding it is a good thing, then."

"Kent..." McKay said, staring at him intently, "Have you ever taken an IQ Test? A professional one..."

Clark remained silent for a second, before nodding his head once. "Yes..."

"What score did you get?"

"Umm..." He said, reluctant to tell them, "...Heh...100%." He admitted, with a sigh.

"What?! That's...that's...preposterous...Me and Carter both received 99%...Zelenka's 98%..." McKay spluttered.

"I'm 98%..." Sheppard put in, with a sly grin, before shrugging, "I never put in for Mensa, though."

Rodney's eyes went wide, turning back to Clark. "Mensa! Are you a member of Mensa?!"

Clark shook his head. "No. I didn't get my results put on file, I didn't need any more attention..."

"Oh, thank god." McKay said to himself, turning his chair to face the screen. "ridiculous...100%..." He was heard muttering to himself.

"Well. I think we better go and fetch the ZPM, yes?" Carter said, pushing away from the chair she had been sitting on to go and stand next to Sheppard, who was situated by the door.

They all nodded, and quietly left the room.

They made their way into a large, circular room, home to only one table standing in the middle. On top, stood a small tower of what looked to be stained glass, which glowed gave of an orangey yellow glow. It had occasional green and red over the bright orange exterior.

"That's a ZPM?" Clark asked, as he stared down at it.

The others all nodded.

"Wow...I had something more...impressive, in mind."

Clark circled the table, staring at it intently. Using his x-ray vision, he scanned it to see what the inside looked like. What he found surprised him slightly.

Picking it up, he chucked it into his other hand, weighing it. Holding it up for the team to see again, he asked, "So, there's suppose to be particles of Subspace in here?"

They all nodded again.

"Ok...So what's a Crystal doing in there?"

"Nothing else is in there...we don't even know how they put the subspace in there, let alone anything else..." McKay said with a frown.

Clark stared at the ZPM, before gripping it with both hands and squeezing. The outer shell crumbled away leaving chunks of orange crystal on the floor, while leaving a clear, thin, transparent crystal in his hands.

"What's this, then?" He asked with a slight smile. It quickly turned to a frown when none of them answered. "What?"

"C...Clark...You just destroyed a fully functioning ZPM..." Sam said, her eyes wide as she stared at the shattered pieces.

"Do you have any idea of what you've just done?!" Sheppard asked gruffly, moving past Sam to stand in front of Clark.

"Oh." Clark said, finally looking down. He shrugged slightly. "I'll create a new one. It shouldn't take me too long."

"Kent...you can't just make a new one! You have no idea of how to make one!" McKay said, sounding distressed.

"Sure I can. I have an Eidetic Memory, It's not like I didn't memorize all of the components before I destroyed it. I'm not that stupid, or I wouldn't have gotten a 100% now, would I?" He said, "It's not going to take me that long to find out how to put everything together.

Now come on. McKay...any idea what this is?" He asked, waving the new crystal around.

McKay stared at it, before shaking his head. "It looks like any other crystal, to me."

Sheppard frowned slightly, before tapping his ear piece. "This is Sheppard. Has any come across a thin, transparent crystal while they've been searching the area's which have just come out of Lockdown?" He asked.

When the others prowling the city reported back negative, they all slouched slightly.

Clark sighed and tightened his grip on the object in question with one hand. It then let off a light so bright, everyone except Clark had to shield their eyes.

He staggered backwards from the force of the power that the Crystal emitted, before grabbing the table to keep himself up.

"Holy chocolate starfish, what was that?" Sam asked, looking around at her surroundings.

Sheppard stared at Sam with a raised eyebrow, but didn't respond.

Clark glanced at the Crystal again, before moving to the door. "I know what to do with it. We need to go to the Gate Room..." He said to them, before walking out.

They climbed the steps that Sheppard had come up, to save them the day before, and walked out onto the open floor of the gate room.

"What are you doing, Clark?" Sam asked for the umpteenth time.

Clark ignored her, and walked over to where the stairs up to the Control Room where, before turning back around the face the Stargate.

He then held out the crystal, length ways, so it was parallel to the floor, before moving it in an arch around him. As soon as the crystal went over the flooring, more crystals emerged from the ground, coming up to meet the first, entwining with the others, to create a console in front of him.

The others, yet again, stared at Clark in amazement, but he ignored the looks. He then looked down at the console. It was solely made up of a number of long crystallized tubes which went back into the console.

Clark quickly made his decision, and placed the crystal into the middle tube, where it went down a short way, then stopped.

The team looked around, wondering what would happen.

The group quickly went to stand behind Clark, who still hadn't moved from his spot by the console.

"Wow, that's really something, Kent." Sheppard said dryly, smirking, but his eyes still scanned the area for any signs of change.

"Wait for it." Came Clark's steady reply.

"Wow, that's really something, Kent." Sheppard repeated a moment later, "It's freakin' Gone with the Wind."

A second after Sheppard's reply, just as it had in the Control room half an hour before, Jor-El's face appeared in the middle of the room, suspended. The team blinked slightly, as nothing seemed to be projecting the image.

Jor-El was facing the console, a thin smile on his face. "If you have found this message, and know how to view it, then...

...you have found your way Home, my little Kal-El." Jor-El said, a single tear running down his otherwise stoic face.

As my Son, and the last of the House of El, you gain the rank of Commander over the Atlantis Armed Forces. Now, I know not, of the circumstances that permit you to be here, but, I do know, that whoever it is you are with, will not be Ancient.

So I'm also guessing that you aren't in-charge of this expedition. Whoever it may be, will have to come to you for help.

As you are here, now, before me; I bestow upon you you're only inheritance; The Lost City of Atlantis."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: When The Other Shoe Drops**

Clark's jaw was set as he stared down at the console before him. Without saying a word, he collected the crystal, and took a step back, watching as the face of his father, and the crystal console both disappeared back into nothingness.

Sam moved closer to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Clark...I..." She whispered, trying to find something meaningful to say, but not finding anything.

Clark remained silent for a few more seconds, before walking off into the direction to the mess hall. "I have a lunch date to get to..." he said roughly, making his way through the moderately large crowd that had formed to watch the spectacle that just took place.

Clark was sat at a table in the lunch room, quietly munching on a Mars Bar, when he felt a small hand touch his right shoulder. He looked up quickly to find Lana standing there with a tray full of food.

She was staring at him with so much emotion in her eyes, Clark knew that she'd heard about what had happened.

"News travels fast here, huh." He said with a sigh, indicating the seat opposite him.

"Clark..." She began, pausing for a second.

Clark shook his head. "Don't, Lana. It's bad enough receiving pity from the team..." He said to her, before looking at her, and trying to explain how he felt. "Jor-El maybe my Biological Father...But he's no Jonathan Kent. Jonathan Kent is not only my Dad, but he's the most honourable man I know. If I end up being half the man he is, I'll count myself lucky..."

Lana stared back at him for a few seconds, before nodding her head slightly, dropping the subject. "How did you know what to do with the Crystal...?" She asked, before adding, "May I see it?"

Clark nodded, pulling it out from the gap between his torso and his bullet proof vest, before placing it on the table.

Lana reached out for it, but withdrew her hands before she touched it. "Is it ok if I touch it?" She asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, it'll be fine." He said with certainty in his voice.

Her lips curled into a small smile, before picking it up and examining it. She held it at eye level, before saying, "My friend...Chloe Sullivan would probably like to have a look at this..." She said, looking over the top of it. "She's Doctor McKay's assistant...She dabbles in Physics and Ancient...stuff..."

Clark nodded with a smile. "Very articulate of you."

Her nose scrunched up, cutely, as she smiled again. "Yes, well, now you know I have a way with words..."

Clark smiled slightly. "Yeah..." He said quietly, before changing the subject. "So...how did you end up here?" He asked, putting the chocolate wrapper into the bin next to him.

She started moving her beans around the plate with her fork, thinking, before saying, "I grew up with my Aunt Nell in Smallville. A couple of years ago, a man named Carson Beckett came to Smallville to run some tests on patients at the Hospital...a disease outbreak of some kind...Aunt Nell being Aunt Nell, she got to know him, and a year later, they got married." She smiled brightly at the thought. "Me and Carson got on well, and I've always liked to take care of people...so with his help, being a Doctor was a great career choice...

A few months ago, Carson got called to the SGC, but couldn't tell us anything about it because it was confidential...He's been here ever since, and he's been working on getting me in as his assistant, so I could reassure Aunt Nell that he's safe..."

Clark nodded, his fingers tapping silently on the table top.

"What about you?" Lana asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had taken residence over them.

Clark let out a low chuckle, before shaking his head. "I don't even know...Two days ago, Colonel O'Neil showed up at my door with twenty armed Marines. Sam...Carter...said they didn't have any idea about my heritage...But I think O'Neil did...somehow." He said, thinking for a moment, "Otherwise, why the marines?"

Lana's brow creased as she thought about it, but, as she didn't have an answer, she remained silent.

"_Kent?_"

Clark frowned slightly, pressing his communicator. "Yeah?"

"_I think you might want to come and have a look at this..."_ Carter replied.

"Well...that really depends on what 'this' is..."

Clark heard Sam sigh over the channel. "_One of our Search Team's have found another crystal...This one is...slightly different...than the other one."_

"Define 'Different'." Clark said, standing up, waiting for a reply.

"_It's flashing...Red."_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: Shadows**

Clark frowned again, quickly holding out his hand for Lana to take.

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, instantly accepting it.

Pulling her up, he quickly turned and jogged out of the hall, Lana following swiftly behind him.

Clark tightened his grip on Lana's hand slightly as they entered the large Gate Room.

The team had assembled around McKay, who stood where the Console lay dormant, waving the red crystal around like a sword.

"How do you do it, Kent! It's not working..." McKay said in frustration, when he saw Clark.

"Of course it's not." He said, taking the Crystal away from him. He quickly waved the crystal in an arch, and just like the last time, the console instantly sprang to life, weaving its way into existence.

Clark let go of Lana's hand, and moved her gently to stand next to Sam, before facing the console again.

"I know you don't want to see him again, Clark..." Sam said quietly, "But we need to know why it's flashing."

Clark nodded slightly, before dropping the crystal into the same tube.

A second later, the large face of Jor-El, once again, materialised in the centre of the room, looking sad and forlorn.

"If you are watching this recording..." He started off, "You are all in grave danger!"

Clark felt everyone tense up behind him. He turned around to find Lana standing next to him again, looking at Jor-El with mixed emotions;

Awe, in the fact that she was seeing a once great being, belonging to such a dignified race as the Ancients.

Sadness, that this man, and most like him, were wiped out by such a barbaric race such as the Wraith...

And fear. Fear in the knowledge that this man knew what he was talking about, and if he said you were in grave danger, you were most likely doomed.

She turned to face Clark, eyes beseeching him to try and find out more.

Clark stared at her silently for a moment, before nodding his head slightly. Turning around, he slowly stepped back up to the console.

"Why?" he asked loudly, his voice taking on an commanding tone that none there had heard before.

Jor-El nodded slightly, responding to the simple command to continue.

"The room in which this crystal was found was locked down for a reason. The two stasis chambers there housed two of the most dangerous criminals known to this universe.

Dru-Zod is the former General to the Altantian Military. He was the one that lead the experiments which created the Wraith. For reasons unknown to us, he tried mixing the DNA of a predator Insect with that of humanoid origin.

The experiment was a success. They obviously managed to combine the two strands of DNA together, but they never counted on the phenomenally fast tissue growth making it so hard to kill, or their rate of reproduction.

I myself, created Dru-Zod's most loyal accomplice; Brainiac. Otherwise known as the Brain Inter-Active Construct.

He was built from the foundations of Atlantis itself. He could fire the drones, to control the weather.

That is how we, ancients, met our downfall.

We grew lazy and arrogant. We relied too heavily on Artificial Intelligence and not enough on ourselves.

We grew tired of the powers that the yellow sun granted us, and those who chose to do so, gave up their powers.

Those who did not; ascended.

Dru-Zod was the first of many to grow discontent, so naturally, was one of the first to lose his powers. After we realised that those without powers were doomed to stay in their mortal form; Dru-Zod wanted his powers back.

That's what made him so angry with his own race. We could take away power, and yet were not worthy enough to be able to restore it.

He used his rank as General to command the Brain Inter-Active Construct to commit genocide. Hundreds of people died before I was able to restore my own powers, and take down Zod. As Commander of Atlantis, and with Zod out of the way, I was able to shut down the Brainiac.

We decided to put Zod into a stasis chamber. And as I deemed the Brainiac too easily corruptible, it, too, shared the same fate. I made sure that that room could only be unlocked by myself, but no plan is full proof. That is why I left this crystal, which contains all the knowledge about this particular subject.

If that room has been unlocked; power would have needed to be taken and diverted from the chambers and into the locking mechanism on the door.

It also means that General Dru-Zod and the Brainiac had enough time to escape!" Jor-El finished his explanation with a sad sigh.

Clark closed his eyes for a second, before turning back around to face the group.

"Search Team 1; you didn't happen to see two bodies in the room you found the crystal, did you?" Sheppard immediately asked his radio.

"_Negative, Sir. Nothing but two empty chambers..."_

Sheppard nodded with a sigh. "That's what I was afraid of." He said, tightening his grip on the rifle pinned to his vest.

Clark frowned slightly, before turning to face the memory of his father.

"Did Dru-Zod ever get his powers back?" He asked.

Jor-El slowly shook his head, before saying, "No. But the Brainiac, however, has. And it's the smartest thing in the universe. Or at least; it use to be."

Clark sighed, before taking the crystal out of the console, and turning back towards the team.

"What do we do?" He asked them, stepping down and letting the console submerge itself back into the floor. "For all we know the Brainiac has flew off to the mainland with Dru-Zod."

"All Units; we're on Code Red. Stand by for further orders." Sheppard said, activating the radio again.

Clark remained quiet, glancing around. He noticed the emergency teams based near the Stargate subtly tighten their grips on their rifles.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: Hunger**

Shepard then turned to Carter, "We're going on lockdown until my men search every inch of Atlantis." He told her, "We'll bring all of the civilians here; it's easily defendable, especially against an Army of two, and if we need to, we can escape through the gate."

Sam sighed, thinking things through, before nodding. "Fine. I'll give you four hours to search. If you haven't found them by then, we're resuming normal duties."

John nodded and gave a look to Teyla, before turning his back on the rest of the group, walking over to the soldiers at the gate.

Clark stared after him for a few seconds, the group staying silent.

"Alright. Rodney, Teyla, I'd like you to go to all of the main departments and gather up as many civilians as you can find and bring them back here. John and his teams can bring back any wonderers." Sam told them, "If you need me; I'll be in my office up there." She added, pointing to a small room that could only be accessed by a bridge coming off from the control room.

The two people mentioned both nodded before going off to do their tasks.

"What should we do, Colonel?" Lana asked, moving forward slightly to make herself noticed from beside Clark's large frame.

"Well...Why don't you ask our Commander, here?" Carter answered with a smile, eyes flickering from Lana to Clark.

Clark made a face, to which both of the girls laughed.

"You're going to have get use to it, Clark. It's your official title. You...went far." She continued when she regained her breath. "From Lieutenant to Commander...that means that you are, in fact, in charge of this base. Now, I'm not expecting you to take charge, because I know how inexperienced you are; but you will need to make executive decisions..."

Clark sighed, but nodded his head. "Alright." He said after a moment.

"I'd like for you two to stay in here...actually, Clark, could you quickly run down to the storage compartment and get some of the comfortable portable chairs..." Sam trailed off as Clark vanished from in front of her, reappearing a few seconds later off to the side, standing next to two stacks of chairs that were roughly the size of himself.

"for people..." She finished, blinking.

"Should have let you finish, sorry." Clark stated, walking back over to them.

Lana gaped, before saying a quiet "Wow."

"Um. No problem." Sam replied, "Well..." She added after a moment, "Like I was saying; I'd like you guys to make sure everyone who comes in is comfortable...Any problems, come and see me, alright?"

Clark and Lana both nodded their acceptance and watched as Sam turned on her heels and went up to the control room.

Lana turned to face Clark, slowly walking towards him with a small smile. "Well, I guess we better start setting out the..."

"...chairs." She finished as she came to a standstill, nearly running into a chair that had suddenly been placed in front of her. "Wow. I may have to keep you close. You will definitely come in handy." She nodded her approval as she surveyed the room, which had now been taken over by set-up chairs.

Clark smiled as he stopped, standing behind her. "I'll keep that in mind." He said, smiling down at her. Stepping in front of her, he took her hand and gently pulled her to a set of chairs in a corner of the room.

Quickly taking a seat and leaning back in it, he watched as Lana took the one to his right. They remained silent, Clark's arm draped over the back of Lana's, before he piped up.

"I'm sorry if I come off as...dominant, or over-protective of you...it's just, as self centred and wrong as this is going to sound; I feel like you...this friendship...is the only thing that I can control. I mean; sure. I'm the Commander and all...but...this is my second day! Things are moving so fast, and...even with my powers, I'm struggling to keep up..."

Lana shook her head and gently laid a hand on his arm."You don't have to explain..." She told him. "I don't know what you're going through...but I can imagine."

Clark remained quiet, eyes drawn to hers, silently searching for something. His hand came up to gentle brush a strand of her hair out of her face, and tuck it lightly behind her ear. "Thank you." He finally said after a moment of staring into each other's eyes.

She smiled, her nose scrunching up again as she shook her head. "You have no need to thank me. I'm here because I like you. You being here with _me_ is thanks enough." She said, her head tilting to the side as she continued to watch him.

Clark smiled back, his attention moving to a crowd of people that were making their way into the hall, splitting off into sections to take segments of chairs. One person broke off from the others and carried on walking over to where he and Lana sat.

She was a small (to him, anyway), blonde girl, who, from the look of her, had a bubbly personality and a mouth the match. As soon as Lana saw her, she stood up and the two hugged.

Clark stood, too, and watched as Lana ended the embrace.

"What's going on, Lana?" The girl asked, "All I know is that Rodney was evacuating the department...and then I ran into some of the desk jockeys over there, and decided to follow them, as Rodney didn't say where we were supposed to be going, he had to run off to find Zelenka, whoever that is..."

"Chloe...Chloe! Relax." Lana said, interrupting her friend's rant. "We just encountered a..." She glanced to Clark, "A small problem. Major Shepard and his teams are searching Atlantis as we speak."

Chloe's mouth closed like a goldfish as she listened to Lana's brief explanation, and when her eyes followed Lana's over to Clark, her eyes widened. After Lana finished, she couldn't contain herself much longer, "Well...Hello there, tall, dark and handsome. Do you have a name to go with that fitting description?" She asked, moving forward slightly.

It was Lana's turn to get, as Clark put it, 'over-protective', as she instantly moved to his side. "Chloe...!" She said warningly. "This is..." She began hesitantly, glancing at Clark again, "...Commander..." She steeled herself, "Kal-El."

Clark turned to Lana, and a raised a finger. "Don't!" He whispered angrily, "I already told you! I'm a Kent!"

Lana faced Clark with a pleading expression, "People need to know who you are, Clark! _I_ know you're a Kent! Believe me, I do, and that's something I absolutely admire about you! The fact that even though you know you're a part of such an advanced and powerful race, and yet you still chose your Human life over this one! But here, now...nobody is going to care who, or how you were raised. What they'll want to know is who and what you'll become!"

Clark's eyes still bore into hers, but he slowly lowered his finger and straightened up, jaw clenched.

Lana sighed, a slight pout on her face as she wondered if she wanted to fall out with him about something that didn't matter to her.

"So...you're the Ancient that has McKay cursing?" Chloe asked, eyebrow raised at their little squabble.

Clark looked down to Lana, who was still pouting, before nodding. "Yeah. He's probably still jealous I beat him on an IQ test." He told Chloe as his gaze went back to her.

Chloe's lips curved into a smile, nodding her head appreciatively. "Well, anyone that can do that certainly has my respect. But don't let Rodney's arrogant facade fall you. The word coming from the top is that he can be quite the softy when time dictates he be..." She told him, "I haven't spent too much time with him at the moment, myself, but, I'm his assistant...so, it's bound to happen sooner or later, right?" She asked with a laugh.

Clark smiled and nodded his head, before indicated to the chair opposite him, taking his own.

The two girls quickly followed, and Clark was happy to let them discuss their first day and a half between each other.

**FOUR HOURS LATER**

"Clark? Clark..."

He yawned, before opening his eyes to the now crowded Hall. Turning his head, he saw Lana standing next to him, trying feebly to shake him.

"Hm. I'm up...I'm up." He muttered, stretching his neck. "What's going on?" He asked, as his attention was caught by a large crowd of people gathering near the archway into the main corridor.

"Major Shepard has just got back from the search. I expect he'll be letting everyone go now. I've heard complaints going around about people being hungry and wanting to go to the Mess Hall, but Shepard's reply over the radio was that he still deemed it too dangerous." Chloe's voice stated, coming from his other side.

"Oh." Clark said simply, standing up as the crowd was let go, and the people went spilling into the corridors.

"I need to check in with Rodney. I'll see you guys down there?" Chloe asked them, as she too, stood up.

"Yeah, alright." Lana told her, glancing up at Clark. "Shall we go then?" She asked him, as Chloe walked off in the opposite direction.

Clark was just about to agree as Lana began to walk away, but quickly took her hand and pulled her back.

"About earlier..." He started off, but was interrupted by Lana.

"Look; I'm really sorry about that." She hurried forward, when she realised he'd stopped speaking, "You were right. I should have asked you first." She finished, before biting her bottom lip.

Clark sighed, staring at her. "I was just about to say _I_ was sorry...I know where your coming from. I just...I just don't want you to feel like me being 'Commander Kal-El' is what defines me, because it isn't! I was raised as a morally right human being. I was only told I wasn't from earth in my sophomore year!"

Lana nodded, quickly agreeing with him. "I know, I know! I don't think that of you at all! I think of you as the person who looks up to his Dad, and wants to be as good as him. And I like that; I really do. You don't have to worry about what I think of you. I know you're not the guy everyone will want you to be. But, sometime, you'll have to be." She told him soothingly, her eyes wide trying to convey what she was trying to say.

Clark stared at her, before nodding slightly. "Alright." He said, ending the discussion there.

She smiled happily, taking his hand again and pulling him through the now empty hall.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen: So, what else can you do?**

Clark quickly managed to wrap his arms around Lana's waist and pull her back to him, before she got into a wrestling match with a Marine.

"Lana!" He said, chuckling, arms still firmly in place around her waist.

Lana looked over her shoulder at him, before pouting, "What? He shouldn't have pushed. There's enough food for everyone!" She stated grumpily, before turning back to face the queue.

"That's not the point. He could probably rip a limb off." He told her quietly, eyes moving over the large Marine that was standing with his back to them.

"Would you really have let a big burly Marine rip one of my limbs off?" She asked him sweetly, her hands coming to toy with his, which were on her stomach.

Clark chuckled again, shaking his head, before laying it on top of hers. "Of course not, but that's not the point!" He told her, "I won't let anyone hurt you." He added as an afterthought.

Lana smiled, before slowly inching them further up in the queue, as she was securely wrapped in Clark's embrace.

They made their way up the queue in a comfortable silence, and Clark only pried his arms away from Lana to grab both his and her food.

"Lead the way." He told her, when he'd finally gotten as much food on his plate as he possibly could.

She smiled again, and began weaving her way through the crowd, while Clark merely walked in a straight line, and due to his massive and intimidating frame, cleared a path easily.

They quickly sat opposite each other at a table that had just been vacated, and immediately dug into their dinner.

After a few minutes of quenching their hunger, Lana finally slowed down to point her fork at Clark's already half empty plate of food. "You're fast, and can eat like a horse; So, what else can you do?" She asked curiously, before stabbing at some pasta.

Clark slowed is eating too, before laying his knife and fork down onto his plate. He sighed, wiping his mouth on a napkin, "I can lift...a lot of weight." He told her, not knowing what his exact limitations were.

"How much weight?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not entirely sure." He told her, before glancing around, thinking of something heavy he could lift. "If Atlantis was made of Earth Metal; I'd be able to lift it." He settled on saying, after he'd visualised how big the city was.

Lana's mouth fell open in surprise. "Wow." She repeated for the third time that day. "That's...a lot."

Clark nodded with a smile. "I have, what I like to call, Super-Hearing...If I wanted, I could listen to everything that was going on in Atlantis at once; or just one single conversation."

Lana, who still hadn't gotten over his strength, continued to open and close her mouth, trying to think of something to say.

"Erm, what else is there..." He asked himself, trying to get everything out of the way at once. "X-Ray vision. If I wanted, I could see through anything..."

"Anything?" Lana asked, her arms flinching involuntarily, in want of wrapping them around herself.

Clark chuckled slightly. "Yeah; anything. Don't worry," He said, shaking his head, "I'm not like that..."

Lana instantly nodded, trying to reassure him, "I know, I know...it's just...anything...it might creep some people out..."

"Does it creep you out?" Clark asked her, eyes drawn to her face.

Lana shook her head again, leaning forward to lay a hand on his. "No. I trust you." She explained simply.

Clark smiled, and nodded his head in acceptance.

"Anything else, while we're at it?" Lana asked hesitantly.

"Heat-Vision." He said instantly, "Invulnerability...or at least, I use to have the last one." He said, making a face. "As you saw last night, I heal quickly. I can fly, and...I may never die. How's that for a line up of abilities?" He asked bitterly.

Lana stared at him, still not sure what to say, as the list of abilities kept on coming.

"Don't look at me like that..." Clark said after a moment of silence, pulling his hand away from underneath hers.

"Like what?" She asked, moving her tray aside.

"Like I'm some sort of...freak." He huffed out, beginning to rise from his chair.

Lana shot up, grabbing his arm and tugging it down. "I'm not! I could never think that you're a freak! I just think that you have so many...powers, some may say too many. I'm not saying you _can't_ control them, I'm saying it's unfair of you to _have_ to control them; especially growing up on earth. It's hard enough without abilities." She told him, trying to explain.

Clark sighed, and silently sat back down.

"Hey! How's everything going?" A loud voice rang out from behind him, and so he turned to find Chloe walking up to their table.

"Fine." Lana replied with a smile, pulling her tray back to her to free up some room for Chloe on her side of the table, who gladly accepted the seat.

Lana quickly finished eating, before glancing down at her watch. "I best go and check-in with Carson. Meet me in an hour in the gate room?" She asked Clark quietly.

Clark nodded his head. "Sure." He said, finishing off his own food. "I'm staying in here for a little bit; have a few drinks. Get to know my team. They'll probably be in, in a bit anyway."

Lana nodded with a smile. She stood up and then frowned, "Shouldn't you be with them now?" She asked.

He shrugged. "If they needed me, they'd have radioed me."

Lana nodded again, "Alright. One hour, in the gate room?" She said to confirm.

"One hour, in the gate room."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen: A drink, or six**

Both Clark and Chloe watched as Lana weaved between the now mostly empty tables and out of the mess hall.

Clark then turned to Chloe, "You up for a drink?" He asked her, standing up.

Chloe shook her head, "I best not. My first shift starts at nine." She said, pulling a grim face, "Best to make a good impression."

Clark nodded his head with a smile, before making his way over to the drink bar. "A six pack of Carlsberg."

"I'm sorry, only Command can withdraw alcohol from the bar on Code Red Status."

"Oh..." Clark said immediately.

"Kent! El! Clark! Kal!" Lieutenant Ford said loudly as he was followed into the hall by the rest of the team, a can of Carlsberg already in his hand. "Ah...You're in a predicament, huh?"

John walked up to them, placing his hands on one of their shoulders. "Hand them out, Bob. And take notice; this is our new Commanding Officer." He told the man behind the bar with a chuckle.

The bartender nodded, before giving Clark his requested six pack.

Clark smiled slightly as he picked it up. "Come on then, you two. I have an hour to get as much alcohol into the two of you as possible." He told them, walking over to the table that Chloe and Teyla were now sat at, the fore mentioned timidly munching on a sandwich.

"What about you, Clark?" Teyla said, having taken the seat Lana had previously been sitting at, John taking the seat next to Clark, and Ford pulling up a chair next to Chloe.

"Alcohol doesn't affect me."

"Ah, that is no fun what so ever!" Ford said, shaking his head.

John smiled, taking one from the pack and opening it. "That means we don't have to be careful with how much we drink, though!" He said, putting his can in the air in a toast. "Here's to Clark! Our resident Boy Scout!"

Ford tapped his nearly empty tin with John's, while Chloe raised her juice cup. The two drinking soldiers looked at her for a moment, before shrugging and tapping her cup.

"Guys; this is Chloe Sullivan, she's..."

"Rodney's new Assistant. Got ya." John said, giving Chloe a small salute. "Good luck with that."

"What...How did you know?" Clark asked with a frown, as he took a can for himself.

"Clark...I _was_ the Commanding Officer here...It was my job to know. As far as I'm aware; I'm to resume these duties?" John asked, after taking a hefty swig from his drink.

"It would be much appreciated, John. I'll most likely have to take over your duties sometime in the near future, seeing as we have another Ancient lose on the planet. You and your men won't be able to handle it."

John looked offended, "Now, Clark; I'm sure we can handle one Ancient Computer!"

Clark shook his head immediately. "If it was my Father that created it, then it will look and act like an Ancient! If that's the case; your bullets will simply bounce off of it."

John opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it, realising that Clark had a bit more experience in this area than he did. "Alright." He relented, nodding.

Clark took a sip from his beer, eyes wondering around the room. There were two other tables that were occupied, not including theirs. "Talk about dinner rush." He noted after a moment of listening to Ford gulping his second tin down.

John nodded his head from beside him. "It's not normally like that. People usually come and go as they please, but due to everyone being cooped up without any food, they all wanted it at the same time."

"Understandable." Clark said, "Where's Sam?" He asked after a moment.

"She's in her office being a kill joy. We did invite her. Well...that's why we're here. She gave us some time off, unofficially. We still need to remain alert...which we are...with you here." Ford said, nodding towards Clark.

Clark smiled slightly. "I see. And if Zod just happened to walk into the mess hall now?" He asked inquiringly.

"We'd shoot him, of course. He's not the one we're worried about; it's his PC." John answered.

Ford laughed and raised his tin in another toast, which John happily accepted.

Clark laughed, before becoming serious again. "Guys...both of them are extremely dangerous, powers or no powers."

"Like you said, Clark, what good are we against an Ancient Computer? It may even give us an unpredictable edge to fight drunk." Ford said, shrugging.

Clark smiled, shaking his head. "Unbelievable. How many have you had?" He asked the Lieutenant.

"Four...Three...Five..." The man answered uncertainly, as if it was a trick question. "One?"

John laughed, "Light Weight!" he shouted, raising his tin again. Ford, Chloe and Clark all predicted it, so raised theirs too, and Teyla, who wasn't drinking anything, was left to smile and shake her head disapprovingly.

"He's been drinking since the search stopped." Teyla informed Clark from across the table, as she watched Ford sneakily take a now cold French fry from an unsuspecting Chloe.

Chloe, who had now gotten into a conversation about Rodney with John, moved her plate of to the side, having finished. It was now closer to Ford, who, having realised they were cold, started flicking them at the other occupied tables.

"Aiden!" Teyla said, "If you don't stop, I'll force you to pick them up!"

John paused in his conversation with Chloe to see what the Lieutenant was up to, and piped in, "And I'll order you to eat them!"

Ford's finger, which was just about to flick another one, halted, before his hand went to his tin of beer. "Fine!" He said in a huff.

Clark chuckled as he finished off his own drink. Launching it into the air, they all watched as it sailed neatly into the bin, which was across the room.

"Well, that's settled it. We're not playing Basketball with you!" Ford said, when the awkward silence became too much for him.

John laughed, before attempting to shoot his own can into the bin.

"Fail!" Clark shouted, just as it hit the edge of the bin and rolled onto the floor.

John huffed, but didn't get up to retrieve it. When Teyla gave him a look, he explanation was "Well, we have to give the cleaners something to do! We don't pay them for sitting around and doing nothing!"

"Like you're doing now?" Teyla shot back with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey! I've down my work today!" John replied.

"All fours hours of it." Teyla muttered, but left it there, not really in a mood with John.

Clark smiled as he listened to their bickering, before glancing down at his watch. "I've gotta get going in a minute guys, I'm meeting...someone."

"Ah! Your Lady-Friend from the Gate room, perhaps?" John asked with a smile. "Very attractive, I must say." He added as an afterthought.

Clark blushed, but didn't deny anything. "I've only just met her!"

"So?" John challenged, "I saw the way she looks at you...She _likes_ you." He said in a sing song voice.

Clark's blush deepened, before turning to Chloe for help. She was laughing, and gave a small shrug.

"What can I say to that, Clark?" She asked him, "Besides...he's right. She does like you. You were the first thing she mentioned when she got off her shift last night. And even _I've_ seen the way she looks at you..."

Clark huffed, having not got any support from her. "Anyway!" He said, turning to evasive tactics. He stood up and walked to the edge of the table. "I'll see you guys..." He trailed off as he heard something.

The gang all began to agree with him, but he silenced them with a look. Expanding his range of hearing, he quickly tried to identify anything that may have caught his subconscious attention.

Nothing...

Nothing...

And then he caught it. It was someone softly saying "Clark!"

Honing into it, he realised it was coming from the Gate room.

"Clark...Clark...Please. If you're listening, you need to get help! Get as many armed men as you can!" Clark then realised it was Lana.

"Please. It's Zod. He's in the gate room! He's trying to get through the Stargate, but he doesn't have the codes! Nobody else is around!..."

And then she began saying it again, probably in case he hadn't heard her the first time.

"John! Gather you men, and meet me in the Gate room, now! Zod is trying to access the Gate!" Clark told him curtly, before super-speeding out of the Mess Hall, leaving the room quiet and sober.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen: New Galaxy, New Rules!**

Clark ran into the Gate Room and skidded to a halt at the entrance. In the middle of the room stood Lana, and behind her, an old man with short, combed back, greying hair. He was standing directly behind her, arm around her waist, knife to her throat.

"You!" The man shouted when he saw Clark. "Activate the Stargate, or the girl dies!"

Clark took a few more steps into the room, eyes searching the area.

"I don't have the codes..." He started, before there was a clank of activity, with a middle aged man striding into the room through one of the other entrances. He was walking quickly towards the old man, but he was dragging Sam across the room by her hair.

"I found her behind some storage equipment." The younger man said as he came to a halt. He bent down swiftly and picked Sam up by the neck, lifting her cleanly off the feet and into the air. "Should I kill her?" He asked casually.

The old man's eyes went from Clark over to Sam, looking her up and down before giving a small nod. "I don't see why not." He stated simply.

As the man began tightening his grip on Sam's neck, Clark stepped forward again.

"Brainiac; Release her!" Clark stated in a commanding tone.

The Brain Interactive Unit instantly did as he was ordered, thinking nothing of it, but as soon as Sam hit the ground, Zod's eyes widened and went back to Clark.

"Belay that order! Kill her!" He shouted.

Clark watched as the Brainiac went to pick Sam back up, so super-sped over to them and barrelled into it, sending both the Brainiac and Clark flying towards the Stargate. Hitting the ground with a loud thud, they both recovered and stood up quickly, separating.

They began circling each other, eyes locked onto each other's, until Clark felt his muscles begin to cramp up, and his blood begin to boil. He staggered, trying to remain upright from the pain, but couldn't help from collapsing onto the floor.

"Well, well, well...Who do we have here..." Zod's voice rang through the hall as he flung Lana across the room, who landed with a thud against the wall, before she stirred and began to sit up, only to watch the scene unfold.

Clark raised both hands to his chest, trying to sooth his nerves, and looked down long enough to see his veins glowing a dark green.

"You can't be the Son of Dax-Ur, or Zor-El...nor Raya's, as I destroyed that petty Family...Zer-Ok's maybe?" Zod continued as he walked up Brainiac, staring down at Clark's withering form.

His eyes then darted to Brainiac, and sharpened as he thought things through. "Or maybe...you're Jor-El's brat of an offspring? No other Family could command the Brainiac." He concluded, turning his gaze back to Clark.

Zod smiled as pulled out a long, thin piece of shattered green rock, and weighing it. He then turned his back to Clark, strolling around the room. "Brainiac..." He said lazily, thinking of a command, "Rough him up a little..."

The Computer instantly reacted to the command, walking forward and picking Clark's weak form by the scruff of his shirt. He then launched him across the room so he went flying through the wall and into an office space in the next room.

Being a way from the affects of the stone, Clark quickly rushed to his feet, before moving slowly back into the room. The Brainiac moved forward again, but this time, Clark was ready, grabbing it before it grabbed him. Taking the side of its head, he quickly slammed it down and into the ground, which cracked underneath the force.

Moving away from the form that was now rising again, Clark walked straight back into the area of radiation from the rock, and felt his muscles begin to cramp again. Not being able to move, otherwise facing the Brainiac again, he fell on his knees in pain.

"Kryptonite, as I've come to call it, is described as having formed through a process of nuclear fusion attendant to the explosion which destroyed the planet Krypton. Some accounts describe the fusion process as a result of the planet-destroying explosion, others as the cause of it..." Zod explained the phenomenon to Clark, as he made his way back over to the newly weakened man.

In Kryptonite's life time, I've come to find that the enhanced Ancient, or Kryptonian, depending on who you ask...physiology is vulnerable to kryptonite's particular radioactive "signature". While we have powers, our cells absorb electromagnetic radiation from stars, and the yellow sun. Kryptonite's radioactivity interferes with this semi-photosynthetic process, driving the energy out of the cells in a rather...painful...fashion." Zod continued, "As I'm sure you're well aware by now."

"He's got the ignorance factor down pat." The Brainiac noted, coming to stand next to Zod. "There must be none where he was raised."

Zod shook his head. "No. I'm pretty sure it's there. It would have followed his ship. He just hasn't come across any. If it reached the Pegasus from Rao, then it would have definitely reached the Milky Way. It's a shame Jor-El got away from Krypton when he did...But too late to intercept his 'little Ka-El'. He was devastated and weak, when he returned to Atlantis. From what little Data I've seen; he and the rest of them left soon after we were placed in the chambers."

The Brainiac remained silent, staring down at Clark. His face, which was so like any other, showed only a trace of emotion. Curiosity.

Lana continued to watch the scene before her with wide eyes. She noted that Clark had his head bowed in defeat, being in too much pain to do anything else. Her attention was drawn to Sam, who had managed to crawl, unnoticed, over to the main steps, and was now gradually making her way up them.

Several seconds later there was a loud rustling noise as 10+ armed personnel came running through each entry way, all getting into defensive positions and aiming their weapons.

"Hold you're fire!" John shouted, coming to the forefront with his own weapon in hand.

The Brainiac smiled at its opposition, but remained where it stood, while Zod only paid them a fleeting glance, before continuing to stare down the blood soaked Kal-El.

He glanced up as an emergency alarm went off, indicating that the Stargate was being dialled. He then turned his attention over to the control room, where Sam could be seen leaning on the console.

"Finally..." Zod stated, before turning to the Brainiac. "I'll meet you on the other side."

The Brainiac nodded, before running through the worm whole without a look back.

Zod smiled, before kicking Clark in the gut, who then curled up. He then circled him, kicking him in ribs. Clark rolled onto his stomach, trying to push himself up.

Zod then went behind him and grabbed Clark's hair, pulling him up onto his knee's, facing the crowd...and Lana.

"You're a fool, Kal-El, and you will lose...everything." Zod told him harshly, as he thrust his hazardously made Kryptonite Knife into Clark's Serratus anterior muscle in his back, before breaking it off. "New Galaxy, new rules!"

Clark screamed out loudly in pain, before Zod pushed his body back down to the floor, turned and ran through the Stargate before any of the guards could get a shot off.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen: Mortality**

Lana gasped as she watched Clark's form collapse onto the ground as the Stargate deactivated.

"Someone get Carson down here, ASAP!" She yelled, standing up and running over to the shaking body on the floor.

"Already here." Carson commented calmly, emerging from the crowd with some other medical doctors. "This is the Ancient?" He asked as he kneeled down beside them.

Lana nodded silently as she used her small hands to try and grasp the tiny piece of kryptonite that wasn't buried inside of Clark. "I think I've...I can't get a hold of it!" She whispered to Carson in frustration, after a few seconds of trying.

Carson took his pen out of his pocket and put it against the piece of rock, pressing down against the skin to create more space for Lana to grasp it.

Clark groaned, eyes squeezing shut in pain, his body continuing to shake in a fit-like episode.

"Relax your muscles, Clark..." Lana told him as her fingers brushed the Kryptonite, causing it to irritate the split skin.

"I...can't!" He grunted out as his eyes slid closed again, the green hue now having spread throughout his entire body, lighting up his veins in a strange glow.

"Stay with me, Clark!" She said, tears prickling her eyes as she became even more infuriated with herself for not being able to pull out the rock.

"Lana; we need to get him to the Infirmary. We don't have the equipment to do this here." Carson told her gently as some more Doctors came rolling through with a gurney.

"No!" She yelled, "We don't have enough time! If we don't get it out now, Clark's going to die! I heard what Zod said! It's a radioactive mineral, Carson! It's taking what little energy he has left!" She said as she continued her attempt.

Clark's body slowly stopped shaking, becoming deathly still. Lana gasped for breath, trying to stop the tears from falling down her face, before giving up. She slammed the palm of her hand on Clark's back in frustration.

"Damn it!" She yelled, "Don't give up on me, Clark!" She told him, hoping he could still hear her. After a few more seconds of fumbling with the piece of rock that was poking out, her hands, being the first part of her body to know that it was now pointless, slowly stopped their movements, going up to her mouth.

She gasped again, shaking her head as she was pulled away from the body by Carson.

"No, no, no, no...!" She mumbled, tears running down her face as she tried to get back to Clark's side.

"Lana! We'll do everything we can! There's nothing you can do in the state you're in." Carson whispered sadly, arms wrapped around her shoulders as members of the Medical Team heaved Clark up onto the gurney. They then began to roll him quickly to the Infirmary to see if there was anything else they could do for him.

Lana continued to shake her head as she sat between Carson's legs, "No...it wasn't supposed to be like this..." She whispered to herself, arms wrapping themselves around her small frame.

"I need to go and see if there's anything I can do, Lana." Carson said as the gurney rolled out of sight. "I'll come and get you once we've tried everything." He added, before giving her a one armed hug. Standing up, he jogged after the rest of the Medical Team, leaving Lana sobbing on the floor of the Gate Room.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen: Red, Blue and Yellow!**

Carson sighed quietly as he entered the Infirmary, seeing that the medical team had only just rolled up with the Ancient.

"Get him on the surgery table!" He ordered, striding over to a corner of the room, before wheeling over a tray full of equipment.

His team immediately began trying to lift the huge, still frame onto the table. Carson moved forward and lent a hand from the other side.

"Turn the lamp on!" He barked at a nurse who walked past, doing nothing. A few seconds later, the large lamp, which was the same size as the table it stood above, flickered on, showering the man below it in a bright, white light.

Everyone that was standing around the table shielded their eyes from the light, backing away. "Can someone turn it down a wee bit!" Beckett ordered, turning to face the wall, the light becoming too much.

"I can't sir. The switch doesn't have a dial!"

"Well, it wasn't this bright before!" Carson yelled with a frown, slowly turning back toward the table. As his eyes adjusted to the light, his mouth opened in awe as he saw the Ancient begin to slowly rise off the table, seemingly being pulled up by the light. The body stopped dead centre, between the table and the lamp, and remained there, perfectly still.

A second later, the boy's mouth opened and he began, unconsciously, screaming in pain. The sound of his cries rang throughout the whole of Atlantis, and the Medical Team standing by were powerless to stop it.

After a few minutes, the light began to dim, and the room became quiet as the body floated back down onto the table.

Carson walked up to the head of the table, gently moving a thumb over the man's eyelid, to open it. He frowned as he saw the eye was a solid green colour. Carson looked up at the people around him, before pointing over to an IV pole. "Get him started on an IV."

The group went back to work, but immediately hit a road block.

"Doctor Beckett, we can't...the needle won't penetrate his skin..."

"Damn." He muttered, turning his back on his team. "Turn him over." He ordered, moving to his side to help.

As they heaved him onto his side, Carson glanced down at the man's back, frowning once more. "What the...who took it out of his back?!" He asked.

"No one, sir."

Carson shook his head, patting the place where the radioactive mineral use to be embedded, noticing that the skin was totally and fully intact. "Alright." He muttered, sighing, "Get him back onto his back. There isn't anything we can do for it."

"Should we hook him up to a heart monitor?" A nurse asked, standing next to him.

"No, he'll probably fry the equipment. Damn it." Beckett said again, "Alright, everyone. I'll stay, you all go and help people that can be helped." He stated, going to sit in a chair next to the surgery table, placing his head in his hands.

The team all filed out and went back to their normal duties as Carson angled his head to look up at the ancient laying deathly still, on the table.

The Scottish Doctor sighed, shaking his head. Standing up, he moved closer to the table, his hand going up to the vein in the man's neck to check for a pulse.

As soon as his hand made contact with the skin, a strong grip tightened around his wrist, forcing him to look up at the man's face in surprise.

The man's eyes were open, and the solid green colour that he'd seen in them before faded to white, before regaining their natural colour. He began to rise from his position on the table, so Carson placed the hand that wasn't in a vice-like grip on the man's shoulder, trying to push him down.

"Sir, I insist that you remain laying down!" He stated, failing, as the man swung his legs off the side of the table, pushing the Doctor away from him.

Kent slowly pushed himself off the table, standing in the middle of the room, regaining his surroundings. Facing straight ahead, which led into a corridor, he marched out of the infirmary, leaving an unsettled Beckett in his wake.

- - - - -

Samantha Carter sighed as she stared down at Lana from the Control Room. The girl hadn't uttered a word since Carson had left her, and had only drew her knees up to her chin and sat back in a corner. Carter then turned her attention to the people that were lounging around the gate room, mainly Sheppard and his men, who had taken it upon themselves to be the 'gate guards'.

"_Carter, Sheppard...we have a problem._"

Carter frowned, tapping her communicator.

"What is it, Carson?" She asked, turning to look at Sheppard, who had immediately looking up at her position on the balcony.

"_Erm...The Ancient is up and walking again..."_

Sam laughed slightly, "That's not a problem, Carson. That's great news!"

The reply came hesitantly, "_Yeah...the problem is...he doesn't seem to understand English."_ Came the Scotsman's thick brogue, "_When I told him to lie back down, he completely ignored me and walked out...I'm sorry, but I don't know where he is, now."_

"_Yeah. That's a problem."_ Sheppard replied, glancing over to Teyla and Ford. "Ford, Teyla; follow me. _Sam, if you can get the girl out of her shell, we'll update you with our position._"

Sam nodded her head and walked out of the Control Room. "Alright, John."

Sheppard glanced over to the girl in question, before walking out of the gate room with Ford and Teyla in toe.

"Does anyone know if we have an ancient censor on these things?" He asked after a moment, taking the game-boy like life-signs detector from its pouch on his vest. "I mean, the Wraith appear in a different colour." He added, switching it on.

"I wouldn't be the one to ask, John." Teyla replied when Ford just shrugged.

John made a harrumphing noise as they continued down the corridor. "Where the hell would he have run off to?" He muttered after a moment. Glancing down at the detector, he blinked.

"What's that red and blue dot, sir?" Ford asked, having peaked over the Major's shoulder.

"I don't know...and how can it be both red and blue?" He said, coming to a stop as he stared down at the thing.

"I think it has a bit of yellow, as well." Teyla pointed out.

Sheppard blinked again as his eyes ran over the map. "Where is that room?"

"Just up ahead, sir." Ford replied, "It's one of the only rooms that stayed locked down in the main building, when we first arrived."

Sheppard nodded, and the three of them began moving forward again. They turned a corner and found Clark strolling down it, moving further away from them, before turning left and into a chamber.

"_Sheppard. We're up and moving, where are you?"_ Carter's voice said over the radio.

"Turn your life signs detector on and go to the yellow, blue and red dot." He commanded after a moment.

After a moment of silence, carter replied.

"_Come again?"_

John laughed quietly as they came to a stop near the doorway. "I'm pretty sure you heard me right, Sam."

"_Hm. Alright. We'll be there in a minute. Carter out._"

Once the radio cut out, John raised a fist and motioned it in the direction of the other side of the doorway. Ford nodded, silently moving over and stacking up, with Teyla following behind the Lieutenant.

John stacked up on the other side, and leaning in to wait.

Only a few moments later, Sam and Lana appeared in the same direction they'd come, moving quietly down the hall.

"Sam!" Sheppard whispered, "Stack up!"

Sam nodded and immediately pulled out her sidearm, moving behind John, and Lana lingered back.

"On my count." John said quietly, but loud enough for them to hear. "One. Two."

"Three!" He stated, swiping a hand across the access panel, which immediately turned green, the door's whooshing open. The four of them all filed into the room, aiming their weapons at nothing in particular.

Sheppard frowned as he scanned the room, which was nearly empty. In the middle of the room, on his knees, was Clark. He was in front of a large glass chamber that stood in the centre of the room.

Inside the chamber was a large muscular mannequin, wearing a skin tight blue rubber suit. It had a set of dark red boots set down at the bottom, along with a cape that hung down the back, reaching the top of the boots. Just above what appeared to be dark red pants was a yellow utility belt.

But that wasn't what had them staring. On the chest was a red symbol which resembled an S from the human alphabet. It looked as if it was embroidered, with a yellow background. The dark red which bordered it was in the shape of a crystal.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen: 24**

Clark stared up at the suit in front of him, jaw clenched, as he slowly rose to his feet. He was only slightly aware of the others behind him as his eyes scanned over the uniform, taking it all in.

In a sudden gust of wind, Clark disappeared, along with the suit, before reappearing **in** the suit a few seconds later, facing the onlookers. He remained motionless, staring at the ground as his muscles visibly flexed themselves, reshaping the suit.

Glancing up, he acknowledged the small group with only a lingering look, before striding past them and back out of the room.

Turning left, he walked the way the group had just come from. As his body was on full alert, and ready for a fight, his hearing picked up the sound of the group's cautious footsteps behind him.

They walked in silence. Sheppard, Teyla and Ford walking in the middle, with Sam comforting Lana, who had broken down again after seeing Clark alive again, at the back.

As they entered the Gate Room once more, Clark strode into the middle of the room.

"Carter, redial that address!" He told her, as he came to a stop, facing the Stargate.

As the group came to a stop as well, Teyla moved back to Lana while Sam came forward, shaking her head.

"No, Clark."

Clark finally turned his head to look at her from over his shoulder. "As Commander of this base, I'm ordering you to redial that address!"

Sam's mouth formed a thin line as she refused to answer, but shook her head instead.

Clark's eyes flashed dangerously. His head spun 180 degrees as he looked up to the control room, where the dialling device was. Raising his left hand to point up at it, his eyes went to the Gate, which instantly began dialling.

"Damn it, who's dialling the gate?!" Sheppard shouted up at the control room.

There was silence, until a young technician appeared on the balcony. "No one, sir! It's doing it by itself! We can't override it!"

Clark's cape suddenly started to get blown about as the Gate finished dialling, and the wormhole was established, blowing out a large jet of quantum foam which disappeared instantly.

"Clark, don't do this!" Sam shouted at him over the noise of the Gate's alarm.

"He needs to be stopped!" Clark said, turning around to face her, his cape finally settling back down.

"We will stop him! But this isn't the way to go about it!" Sam replied.

"How exactly are **you** going to stop him?!" Clark asked after a moment, "You didn't back then, and you can't now! The quicker you come to terms with that, the quicker I can get out there and do something about it!"

Lana, who had been too busy staring at Clark to keep her mind on the conversation, moved forward.

"Clark...?"

Clark looked over to her, and his face visibly softened.

"Wh-what are you doing, Clark?" She asked, stepping past John and Sam to get closer to him.

"I'm going to make sure he can't touch you, again." Clark replied firmly, bringing a hand up to cup her face gently.

Lana closed her eyes at his touch, pressing herself against his hand. "That wasn't your fault..." She mumbled.

"Then who's was it?! I'm the only one here that had a chance of stopping him, Lana. And I didn't! That is my fault! That resulted in him getting to you! I'm not going to give him another opportunity." He told her, his eyes running over her face to make sure she was, in fact, alright.

Lana opened her eyes slightly to stare at him for a second, before moving forward and wrapping her arms around him, burying her face into his chest. "I thought you were dead!" She whispered, starting to cry again.

"I know...I'm here now..." Clark said, trying to calm her down. After a moment, Clark moved backward to look down at her, "I need you to let me do this..." He whispered.

Lana stared at him, her brow creased as she stared into his eyes. Seeing the determination on his face, she gave a small nod, before pressing her face against his chest again. "Just make sure you come back to me." She told him quietly.

Clark nodded, letting out a breath of air as he wrapped his arms around her one more. "I will. I promise." He kissed her gently on the head, before backing away. "If I'm not back in twenty four hours," He said, talking to Sam and John, but not taking his eyes off Lana, "then I'm not coming back. And I don't want you coming after me, either."

He continued moving back until he was in front of the gate. "Twenty Four hours." He reminded them, before turning on his heels and disappearing.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty: Home**

Lana watched as the worm whole vanished, and the room became eerily silent. She wiped at her eyes before turning and noticing that everyone was watching her.

"You've all got work to do!" Sam shouted to the crowd, clapping her hands together to get everyone's attention, before ushering them away.

"Someone start a 24 hour countdown immediately!" John said into his radio, which crackled, before going silent.

Sam looked over to John, who had a frown on his face, before looking to Lana. Lana stared back, not knowing what to do.

Sam smiled comfortingly, "All we can do now is wait."

"Relax, Lana." Carson said from beside her, as they sat on the steps in front of the Stargate.

Lana looked up from her hands, "He should be back by now..."

"I think you'll find he has another 5 hours, actually." Sam said, walking down the stairs.

"Colonel." Carson acknowledged respectfully.

Sam smiled and inclined her head. "Doctor Beckett."

"We both know 24 hours was an estimate, Colonel..."

"You need to have faith in him, Lana." Sam rebuffed as she took a seat, staring off at the gate.

Lana sighed and nodded. "I do. I'm just worried."

The Colonel smiled slightly. "You're not the only one."

They lapsed into an uneasy silence as people continued to move around them. After a few minutes, Carson looked past Lana, over to Sam.

"How did Elizabeth react to you taking Command?" He asked.

Sam raised an eyebrow as she glanced back over at the Doctor. "Well, it could have gone better, I suppose." Her eyes swept the room. "I haven't seen her since I told her, actually. Makes me wonder what she's been up to. She's missed all the fun."

At this, Lana turned to her with a frown.

"Joke, Lana. Take a Joke." Sam told her gently, as said girl went back to staring at the gate, sadly. Sam let out breath before standing up. "I best go check in with John-"

At that moment, the gate's alarms went off, and it began activating. Armed Personnel immediately poured back into the chamber in waves, establishing a defence. The Wormhole formed, and the place went silent until Sam moved forward.

"Have they identified themselves?" Sam shouted to the Control Room.

"Erm..." Came the hesitant reply.

"What's happening?" Sheppard asked as he raced into the room with Ford and Teyla in toe.

"It's not an I.D that I recognize...but the computer won't let me shut the Iris on it." The technician shouted back.

At that moment, a group of large, muscular men marched through the Gate in rows, with a smaller group of women behind them.

"Identify yourselves or we'll open fire!" Sheppard yelled at them.

They ignored the command and continued to pile through the gate, all coming to a standstill in the middle of the room.

Sheppard lifted his rifle and let off a burst, which impacted with a man's chest, before harmlessly bouncing off, ricocheting and instead, impacting with the walls.

Sheppard frowned, "You are a security threat! Men, open fire-"

"Stand down!"

From the back of the large crowd of newcomers, a large familiar form barged its way to the front.

"I said stand down, damn it!" Clark said as he passed the front lines, his cloak flapping once again in his rush. Quickly turning to face the men, he said, "Captain Ok! Get everyone situated, and then report in to me."

The man next to him nodded, his right fist going and thumping across his chest. "Of course, Commander. Everyone; Fall out and follow me!"

As the Captain began leading his people out of the Gate Room, Major Sheppard lowered his weapon only slightly.

"Kent! You better have a good reason for bringing them here! We're not a Hotel!"

"I do." Clark replied after watching them leave, before stepping forward. "I brought them Home.

They're Ancients."


End file.
